Delegate, outsource, build a team. It’s the message drilled into to so many entrepreneurs who are ready to grow big. But what happens when the team you have is causing you to spend too much time micro-managing – and you’ve literally become an overworked manager? Its hard to be the CEO of your growing company when you keep getting pulled down into the weeds.
Hiring other people to help offset your weaknesses is supposed to help you grow, not make you resent having people to delegate and outsource to. So what the heck went wrong?
Often times it starts when you are ready to grow. Think about what’s happened as your business over the last few years. You start out, you have a certain goal or mission, and you know you have a certain budget to invest in your growth, so you hire someone who meets your budget and can do a satisfactory job of completing the tasks.
Then it happens. Woosh! You take off at lightening speed – orders fly in, new programs are created that serve your high-end marketplace, customer service challenges arise more frequently, the level of detail management required has increased and your expectations have escalated to a whole new level.
You grew…but did your team’s approach change with the evolution of the role? Did your infrastructure shift to handle the expansion? Did your systems and procedures progress with the increase in demand and quality?
Well when I’m working with an entrepreneur’s business as their coach, I evaluate many different parts of the process to uncover the real problem. Often it boils down to one of four areas (or a combination there of):
- The skills and competencies of the team don’t match the role as its evolved.
If you experience a lot of breakdowns, miscommunications, or a regular inability to complete the task on time, and as the saying goes, you may be trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip. You can’t expect someone whose is new to internet marketing to be a whiz at getting savvy squeeze pages up in a day. It’s an unrealistic expectation.
Often when we outsource and delegate tasks in the beginning we hire for the current needs versus hiring someone who has the ability to expand and grow as you do. This issue can be resolved if both parties are willing to identify the gaps and create a plan to increase the team members skills.
ACTION: Educate your team on your new vision and how the role will change in order to achieve new goals. Meet with each team member to decide if they are willing/able to fulfill new role.
2. The systems, procedures and technology necessary to perform at optimum speed are not up to date; which creates tension and frustration for the person responsible.
For three years we knew we had a poor system for managing customer purchases and lead follow-up. But the investment and time it would take to fix the problem kept it on the back burner. This year we knew to make the leap we desired we’d have to bite the bullet and make it happen.
The result is less duplication of effort and more marketing efficiency. Not having the ideal CRM system over the years caused so much frustration, angst and breakdown between my fast-paced team that the cost of NOT upgrading the system became too great.
ACTION: Assess areas of breakdown, frustration or inefficiency. Invite your team to share their insights too. Then make a list of what needs to be upgraded and prioritize based on budget, time and cost. Don’t forget to evaluate the cost to NOT upgrade too…
There are two more performance evaluate areas which I’ll post later this week. But for today…let’s hear how this is providing you insight into how to uplevel your resources for the kind of business you’ve always dreamed of. Share below in the comments – I look forward to reading them.
Melanie Benson Strick, CEO of Success Connections & Virtual Team Building Expert, helps entrepreneurs kick overwhelm to the curb so they can exponentially grow and have more time for what they love.
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